From love to pain: is oxytocin the key to grief complications?

While most adults confronted with the death of a loved one manage to grieve, about 10-20% of individuals develop complicated grief, characterized by persistent distress and impaired social skills, or pathological grief, defined by the onset or decompensation of a psychiatric disorder. Little is known about the biological causes of these grief complications. Recent work suggests that oxytocin, a major neuroendocrine hormone regulating many neurocognitive mechanisms, may be involved in this process.

[Combination of ketamine and esketamine with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder].

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), characterized by the combination of obsession and compulsion, is a clinical and therapeutic challenge. Many patients with OCD do not respond to first-line treatments such as serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and exposure and response prevention psychotherapy (ERP). For these resistant patients, some preliminary studies have shown that ketamine, a non-selective glutamatergic NMDA receptors antagonist, could improve the obsessive symptoms.

[Denial of pregnancy: focus on clinical specificities].

FOCUS ON CLINICAL SPECIFICITIES Denial of pregnancy corresponds to an evolving pregnan¬cy without the woman being aware of being pregnant. It is generally associated with an absence of gravidic signs such as amenorrhea, abdominal swelling, breast tension, morning sickness, or maternal perception of fetal move¬ments. Although this phenomenon is not well known and is sometimes considered a myth by the medical world, it represents a significant public health problem.

[Mother brain: Bayesian theory of maternal interoception during pregnancy and postpartum].

The perinatal period, including pregnancy and postpartum, causes major morphological, endocrinal, and thermal transitions in women. As the fetus grows, abdominal muscle fibers stretch, internal organs such as the bladder or colon move, and the uterine anatomy changes. Many of these changes involve interoception, the perception of internal body signals such as muscle and visceral sensations.

Becoming a Mother During COVID-19 Pandemic: How to Protect Maternal Mental Health Against Stress Factors.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were an increasing prevalence of perinatal psychiatric symptoms, such as perinatal anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorders. This growth could be caused by a range of direct and indirect stress factors related to the virus and changes in health, social and economic organization. In this review, we explore the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on perinatal mental health, and propose a range of hypothesis about their etiological mechanisms.

[Perinatal beliefs: Neurocognitive mechanisms and cultural specificities].

Perinatal beliefs contribute to the experience of pregnancy and the process of parenthood. Many of these perinatal beliefs have been perpetuated and evolved over time and throughout the world, exerting their influence on the behavior of pregnant women in interaction with medical recommendations. These beliefs generally offer explanations for gravidic and puerperal phenomena, helping to reduce the uncertainty of parents faced with the biological, psychological and social transitions of pregnancy.